Most tile failures are not caused by choosing the wrong tile. They are caused by problems underneath it. Cracked grout lines after two winters, hollow sounds underfoot, or a shower base that never fully dries can often be traced back to preparation work that was rushed before the first tile was set.
Anyone planning a tile installation in Richmond should understand what a proper job involves. This guide explains each stage of the process, what can go wrong, and why Richmond’s local conditions make certain installation details especially important.
Why Tile Installation in Richmond Has Its Own Challenges
Richmond sits on low, flat land with a high water table, and much of its housing stock is built on slab-on-grade or over crawl spaces close to the ground. That combination means ground-level floors deal with more moisture from below than a comparable home built on a hillside would.
Add the wet weather that typically lasts from October through March and you get two moisture fronts at once — one rising from the slab and the other being tracked in through entryways. Tile handles both well when it is installed over the right substrate and membrane. Installed directly onto an unprepared slab, it becomes a lid over trapped moisture, and the grout is usually the first thing to show it.
Condos and townhomes bring a second variable. Many buildings sit above parkade structures, where the concrete deck can experience seasonal movement that affects the finished tile surface. Without the right layer between slab and tile, that movement transfers directly into the tile.
The Steps a Proper Tile Installation Should Include
A quote that lists “supply and install tile” and nothing else is hiding most of the actual work. Here is what should be happening between demolition and grout, whether the job is part of our flooring services or a full room renovation.
Subfloor Assessment and Levelling
Before anything is ordered, the substrate gets checked for flatness, structural movement, and moisture. Industry tolerance for large-format tile is roughly 1/8″ of variation over 10 feet — tighter than most existing floors, which is why self-levelling compound so often turns up on a properly written quote.
Skipping this is the single most common cause of lippage, the uneven tile edges you can feel with a bare foot. On a wood subfloor, deflection matters too: a floor that flexes underfoot will crack a rigid tile surface no matter how good the adhesive is.
Waterproofing and Uncoupling Membranes
These two get confused often, and they do different jobs. A waterproofing membrane keeps water from passing through to the structure — essential in showers, tub surrounds, and any wet room. An uncoupling membrane lets the substrate and the tile move independently, so a shifting slab does not telegraph a crack straight up through the finished floor.
Systems like Schluter’s DITRA and KERDI are the ones we specify most often, because on a ground-oriented floor in this climate you frequently want both functions at once. Homeowners across the Lower Mainland sometimes see these membranes as an upsell. They are closer to insurance — the cost of adding one is a fraction of what it costs to tear out a failed floor and start again.
Layout, Setting, and Movement Joints
Layout is planned before adhesive is mixed, so cuts land in sensible places and the pattern stays aligned with the room’s most visible sightline rather than with a wall that may not be perfectly straight.
During setting, coverage matters more than speed. Large-format tile generally needs close to full mortar contact, which usually means back-buttering each piece. Movement joints — soft joints of flexible sealant rather than rigid grout — belong at perimeters and at intervals across larger floors. Leave them out and the floor has nowhere to expand, which is how you get tenting, where tiles lift off the substrate entirely.
Where Installations Commonly Go Wrong
Most of the failures we are called to repair can be traced back to a small number of shortcuts.
- Tiling directly over an old floor without checking whether the layers underneath are sound
- Skipping the membrane on a ground-level slab or shower wall
- Spot-bonding — using five dabs of mortar per tile instead of achieving full coverage — which leaves hollow voids that can crack under load
- Omitting movement joints, especially on floors that run continuously between rooms
- Grouting too early, before the mortar has cured, which can compromise the installation and discolour the grout
Homeowners who have lived through one of these repairs tend to ask far more detailed questions the second time around — and rightly so. The repair almost always costs more than doing it correctly would have.
Strata Approvals and Scheduling for Richmond Condos
For condo and townhome projects, the paperwork can take longer than the tiling. Most strata corporations require written approval before work starts, along with proof of contractor liability insurance and, increasingly, an acoustic underlay that meets the building’s minimum impact-sound rating requirements, particularly for units above the ground floor. The same applies to bathroom renovations in these buildings.
Build that approval window into the schedule rather than treating it as a formality. Noise-restricted work hours also compress a crew’s productive day, which stretches a job that would take four days in a detached house into a week or more.
Installing the same square footage of tile in a Delta rancher and in a fourth-floor condo can involve two very different projects once access, elevator bookings, and material staging are taken into account — worth remembering when comparing a quote for one against a quote for the other.
Cost and Timeline Expectations
Tile installation across Vancouver and the surrounding region generally costs between $12 and $28 per square foot, depending on tile format, pattern complexity, and how much prep the substrate needs. Large-format and herringbone layouts sit at the higher end because both take longer to set and generate more cuts. The type of tile you choose accounts for a significant part of that price range, and the types of tile available vary widely in cost.
Prep is the line item that moves most. A flat, sound slab may need almost nothing; a floor requiring levelling compound, membrane, and old-adhesive removal can add several dollars per square foot before a single tile is placed. This is exactly why two quotes for the “same” job can differ by thousands — and why the breakdown matters more than the total.
In terms of timeline, a standard bathroom floor and surround typically takes three to five working days, including curing time. A full main floor typically takes one to two weeks. Curing time is not padding; grouting or allowing foot traffic too early can compromise the installation.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long should I stay off a newly tiled floor?
Plan on 24 hours before light foot traffic and 72 hours before replacing heavy furniture or appliances. Mortar and grout gain strength over days, not hours, and early loading is a common cause of hairline cracks that only show up weeks later.
Can tile be installed over an existing tile floor?
Sometimes, if the existing floor is fully bonded, flat, and the added height will not create problems at doorways or appliances. It is worth an honest assessment first — homeowners often find that removal costs less overall than the repair bill when a compromised base fails under the new layer.
Do I need a membrane on a ground-floor slab?
In most cases here, yes. Slab-on-grade floors in low-lying areas transmit both moisture and seasonal movement. An uncoupling membrane can help manage substrate movement, while an appropriate moisture-control or waterproofing system may also be required. Your installer should be able to explain which membrane system they recommend and why it is appropriate for your substrate.
What should a detailed tile quote actually include?
It should separate demolition and disposal, substrate prep, membrane, setting materials, tile, grout and sealant, and labour. A single lump sum makes it impossible to tell whether prep was included or quietly left out, which is the most common reason a low quote grows once work begins.
Getting the Foundation Right the First Time
Good tile work is mostly invisible. The levelling, the membrane, the movement joints, the curing time — none of it shows in a finished photo, and all of it determines whether the floor still looks right in ten years.
RT Stone & Tile installs tile across Vancouver and the surrounding region, and we are happy to review the substrate and membrane plan for your space before moving on to tile selection. Contact us or call us at 604.781.2510 to get started.